The organised labour in Cross River State, South-South Nigeria, has given the State Governor, Professor Ben Ayade, a 7-day ultimatum to implement the new National Minimum Wage or workers across the state will down tools.
This resolution is contained in a statement jointly signed by the Chairman of the State Public Service Negotiating Council, Julius Nkoji, and Secretary, John Odey who say the State Government has been given enough time to implement the new minimum wage.
According to the statement, the labour leaders also regretted the breakdown of negotiations and wondered what the Governor is up to even when he promised during election that he would pay once the Federal Government concludes their own side of the bargain.
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“Sequel to the breakdown of the minimum wage negotiations in the state and government’s refusal to implement promotions of civil or public servants and also restore the names of civil or public servants deactivated from the payroll from September 2019, the organised labour at its meeting on Thursday, February 20, 2020, resolved to issue to government a 7-day ultimatum effective Friday, February 21, 2020, to Thursday, February 27, 2020, to address the aforementioned issues.
“Failure to attend to these issues on or before the mid-night Friday, February 27, 2020, we have no other option than to embark on industrial action forthwith to press home our demands.”
Reacting to the ultimatum, the Governor’s spokesperson, Christian Ita, appealed to the organised labour to be patient with the government in the face of financial challenges facing the State.
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Ita said the Governor has given his commitment to pay the new minimum wage but the organised labour should be patient with him to fulfill the promise made.
“Don’t forget that Cross River is one of the few states in Nigeria that salaries of workers are paid as and when due without default.
“This is only made possible due to Governor Ayade’s commitment to the welfare of workers and the organised labour has acknowledged him for this severally with different awards and recognitions. I can only appeal to their conscience that they should be patient,” he said.
